Surgical truss structure



6, 1942- J. A. CHESTERMAN SURGICAL TRUS S STRUCTURE z Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 12, 1941 Jan. 6, 1942. J. A. CHESTERMAN 2,269,353

SURGICAL TRUSS STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 12, 1941 I 2 Sheets-Shet 2 lwen i Patented Jan. 6, 1942 John A. Chesterman, Phil-adelphia Pa assignor to Gheste'rmanLe'eland com any, Philadelphia,

Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania,

Application February 12, 1941, SerialNo. 378,6 j7-l 6 Claims. (Cl. 128-99) invention relates to. surgical trusses such as,are.us edfor. the care and treatmentof abdominal hernias. The present invention relates I more particularly to the type of truss which employ's a longitudinally curved body-embarcing spring for holding the truss pad in position over the area of the hernia.

' It is common practiceto .encase thetruss spring between two strips of leather or other suitable material and to stitch the two covering strips together outside and. parallel to the opposite longitudinal marginal edges, respectively, of the spring.

In other instances. it has been common practice to secure a strip of felt to the leather strip on the inside of the curved spring by thesame stitching, which holds the two covering strips together around the spring. I

The two exposed rows of stitches which secure,

the marginaledges of the; spring-covering strips and the cushion together .areobjectionable, in that theybecome soiled and cannot be readily cleaned. Furthermore, these stitches become unsanitary and'odo'rife'rous as a result of becoming saturated with perspiration, while also causes the sewing thread to rot, leaving the two "covering strips separate to admit the perspiration to the spring, causing the spring to rust. I

The object of the present invention is to provide' 'a sanitary spring sheathing employing a single row of stitches hidden from view and protectedkagainst the ravages of perspiration.

"In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. lfis aperspective view of one form of spring sheathing and cushion, made in accordance with vention as appliedto a double-spring truss; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken onthe line 6-6, Fig.5. Asl'shownin Figl'2, the truss spring I is of the flat ribbon, type, having a rectangular -cross-section. The spring I is curved longitudinally to encircle partially the body of the person wearing the truss. The curved spring I is sheathed in a casing 2 composed or leather or other suitable material, which may be readily cleansed by wip ing the damp cloth.

The sheathing or casing 2 is formed of a single strip of material folded transversely around the spring I, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, to provide a plain outer face 3, edge faces 4 and 5, and inner facejportions 6 and I. The inner face portions 6 and .I, at a median plane xa: between theupper and lower edges l and 5, are bent at right angles to the transverse plane of the spring I, in the form of inwardly projecting flanges 8 and 9, respectively, which lie in abutting relation to each other at the plane a:a:.

The flanges 8 and9 are held in abutting relation to eachother by a single longitudinal row of stitches III, which extendfromithe truss pad supporting end 'II of the body-embracing structure A to the fastening-strap end I2 thereof.

Thespring I extends through the casing 2', from the truss. pad supporting end I I ofthe body-embracing structure A, to a point approximately midway between the ends'II and I2 of the structure, as indicated in dotted lines at I3'in Fig 1.

On'the inside curvature of. the body-embracing structure A, is a cushion-forming'strip I5, which is co mposed of leather or other suitablematerial. The cushion strip I5 is in a single piece and is loosely, folded transversely to provide, a plai'n, smooth, inner surface I6 with smoothly rounded upperand lower edge curves I1 and I8.

The outer portions'l9 and 20 of the cushion strip I5 bend inwardly, then outwardly, into contact with the flanges 8 and 9 and inner portions Grand ,1 of the sheathing casing 2,.and are held in abutting. contact with the flanges 8 and 9 by the single row or stitches II), which pass through the portions I9 and 20 of the cushion strip I5 and the flanges 8 and 9 of the spring-casing strip, in a plane parallelto the spring I.

The cushion formed by the strip I5 is wider than the casing 2 of thespring I and the looseness of the cushion, stripQWith respect to the spring casing, affords relative movement between the inner body contacting face I 6 of, thecushion and the spring I, so that rio'chafing of the persons skin will occur as a result of movement of the spring during any activities in which theperson may be engaged.

A truss pad B is normally attached to a bracket 2 I, which is secured to the outside'of the one end II of the body-embracing structure A, by screws 22 which pass through the spring casing 2 and enter threaded openings in the spring I A strap C is secured in the end I2 of the body: embracing structure A by stitching 23, rivets "or other suitable means. The strap C is inserted in the otherwise open end I2 of the cushion formed by the folded strip I5,

The strap C is provided apertures 24 for engagement with a post 25 projecting outwardly from the truss pad bracket 2 I.

In Figs. 3 and 4, the cushion-forming leather strip I is replaced by a cushion-forming strip l5a composed of felt, rubber or other suitable material.

The outer face 26 of the strip l5a is adhesively secured to upwardly and downwardly extending continuations 8a and 9a, respectively, of the flanges 8 and 9 of the spring casing 2, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with a single row of stitches Illa holding together the two marginal portions of the leather strip of which the spring sheathing 2a is composed.

It will be noted that, in Figs. 3 and 4, the spring sheathing or casing 2a fits the spring la loosely, to provide for relative lateral movement between the spring I a and the inside body-contacting surface lBa of the cushion strip l5a.

In Figs. 5 and 6, the invention is shown as being applied to a truss of the double spring type.

Each spring, one of which is shown at lb in Fig. 6, forms part of a body-embracing structure A A respectively. Each body-embracing structure, in addition to the truss spring lb', includes a spring sheathing 2b and a cushion-forming strip l5b of felt, rubber, etc., adhesively secured to the marginal portions 8b, 9b of the strip of leather, etc., of which the spring sheathing 2b is composed, and which are secured together by a single row of stitches lllb In this instance,

the sheathings 2b, 2b, fit the springs lb rather snugly, as in some cases relative lateral movement between the springs and the cushions may not be desired. However, if such relative movement is desired, the casings 2b may be made to fit the springs lb loosely, as in the case illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

In each of the instances noted above, the spring sheathing is composed of a single strip of material which is maintained in a tubular form, to encase the spring, by a single row of stitches which is hidden from view and protected from the deteriorating effects of perspiration by being deeply buried between the spring and the body-contacting cushion, midway between the upper and lower edges of each, it being noted that, under conditions of use, the inner face of the spring casing and the outer face of the cushion will be pressed together above and below the row of stitches and will exclude direct communication to the row of stitches from the exterior of the body-embracing structure as a whole.

I claim:

1. A surgical truss structure comprising a body-embracing spring, a body-contacting pad adjacent one side and extending along the length of said spring, a sheathing for said spring composed of a single strip of flexible material folded transversely about the spring along the length thereof, and a row of stitches securing marginal portions of the strip together between the spring and the pad.

2. A surgical truss structure comprising a bodyembracing spring, a body-contacting pad adjacent one side and extending along the length of said spring, a sheathing for said spring composed of a single strip of flexible material folded transversely about the spring along the length thereof, and a row of stitches securing marginal portions of the strip together between the spring and the pad substantially midway between the opposite longitudinal edges of the spring.

3. A surgical truss structure comprising a body-embracing spring of thin, flat cross-section, a body-contacting pad adjacent one fiat side and extending along the length of the spring, a sheathing composed of a single strip of flexible material folded transversely around the spring along the length thereof with marginal portions of the strip bent at right angles to the plane of said flat side of the spring and abutting each other in a plane intermediate the opposite longitudinal edges of said flat side of the spring, and a row of stitches securing said abutting marginal portions of said strip together between the spring and the pad.

4. A surgical truss structure comprising a body-embracing spring of thin, flat cross-section, a sheathing composed of a single strip of flexible material folded transversely around the spring along the length thereof with marginal portions of the strip projecting from the plane of one fiat side of the spring in fiat abutting relation to each other, a body-contacting pad composed of a single strip of flexible material folded transversely to produce an hollow center in thepad along the length of the spring with marginal portions of the pad strip in flat abutting relation to the flat abutting marginal portions of the sheathing strip, and a row of stitches passin through the fiat abutting marginal portions of both the pad strip and the sheathing strip intermediate the spring and the hollow-centered pad.

5. A surgical truss structure comprising a body-embracing spring of thin, flat cross-section, a sheathing composed of a single strip of flexible material folded transversely around the spring along the length thereof with marginal portions of the strip bent backwardly upon adjacent portions of the strip adjacent one flat side of the spring, and with the bends of said marginal portions lying in abutting relation on a line intermediate the longitudinal edges of the spring, a row of stitches passing through said abutting bends of said marginal portions of the strip, and a body-contacting pad extending along the length of the spring and secured to said backwardly bent portions of the strip.

6. A surgical truss structure comprising a body-embracing spring of thin, flat cross-section,

' a sheathing extending along the length of the spring and composed of a single strip of flexible material folded transversely around the spring with marginal portions of the strip bent backwardly upon adjacent portions of the strip adjacent one flat side of the spring, and with the bends of said marginal portions lying in abutting relation on a line intermediate the longitudinal edges of the spring, a row of stitches passing through said abutting bends of said marginal portions of the strip, and a body-contacting pad extending along the length of the spring and composed of a strip of felt of greater width than said spring adhesively secured to said backwardly bent portions of the strip and extending laterally beyond the longitudinal edges of the spring sheathing.

JOHN A. CHESTERMAN'. 

